The plain white metal building sitting in a field in Kingwood betrays nothing of its frightening interior. Only the sign "Kingwood Asylum" hints at what visitors will experience once they step in the doors.

Surprising customers is part of the plan, owner Shayne Torrans explained.

"They're not expecting to see what they do on the inside," he said. "They're blown away."

The Kingwood Asylum is a 3,000-square-foot haunted house, complemented with an outdoor graveyard. Inside, catacomb-style brick walkways lead through a dilapidated estate to a broken-down hospital and then to a psychiatric ward. Elements from the most common fears - whether its chainsaws or clowns - make cameo appearances.

The Asylum is open just a few weekends each year - just long enough to build a loyal following. Visitors come the last two weekends of September and every weekend in October.

The first weekend of November is "Lights Out" when all the electricity is turned off, and candles are the only way to navigate.

More Information

Price: $20 general admission, $10 family hour, $25 VIP slash price (order online and cut to the front of the line)

Discount: The Kingwood Asylum donates canned goods to the Society of St. Stephens every haunt season. The Kingwood Asylum will offer any visitor a $5 discount on tickets if they donate three canned goods

The operation is housed in a fireworks stand. After the Fourth of July, Torran's lease on the building begins. He works with a crew to roll out all the fireworks and bring in enough materials to build 20 sets - the rooms of the haunted estate and hospital, the props required for horrid experiments in a mental hospital.

"We have to build a 3,200-square-foot home in three months, then age it and distress it," Torrans said. "It's not an easy task."

Haunting the house

By day, Torrans works in the petroleum industry. His creative drive finds an outlet on weekends and holidays - building projects to suit his active imagination.

In the winter, he has fashioned his own snow-making machine. In the fall, Torrans' focus is all about Halloween.

"Who doesn't like to get candy and dress up?" he asked.

He has always been interested in psychology, drama and set design. "I understand the elements of how to build a set and how to create fear," he noted.

When Torrans was young, there was a man who invited neighborhood children to a "home haunt" - a do-it-yourself haunted house.

"I was totally infatuated with it," he recalled.

Torrans looked forward to the day when he, too, could become a home haunter. He learned how to build in his high school shop class.

"For some people, their hobby is golf, and that's what they do," he said. "That's not me. I'm a jack of all trades, interested in so many different things."

Torrans started his haunted house in 2007 in his driveway.

He would hide with his friend, while unsuspecting neighborhood children rang the doorbell. His mother and son were giving out treats.

"We just started out as a neighborhood thing, to keep kids off the street," he said. "We were just trying to scare some kids and have some fun."

Building the haunted house allowed Torrans to explore all of his artistic skills. "With a set, you can do whatever you want to do," he said. "It's just a matter of how we're going to do it."

Torrans wrote his own urban legend - a story about a doctor running a mental institution in the Kingwood forest - to use as the driving force for the haunted house. He used his limited budget to get started.

The first year, 250 people came.

The following year, more than 600 showed up at Torran's door.

Love at first fright

Four years ago, Torrans met Paula Ellisor - his match on eHarmony. The couple had a lot in common, including a love for horror films.

Ellisor has three children. When Halloween approached, Torrans told his new girlfriend about his seasonal hobby.

"He said, 'I kind of do this Halloween thing,' " Ellisor recalled.

He asked her to join him, and with Ellisor on board, the haunted house concept expanded. "It was a little bit of a bigger production," she said. "We took over the yard, the house and part of our neighbor's yard."

There were 1,400 guests. The next year, 1,500 came.

"It was just huge," Torrans said. "It exploded. With the homeowners association, we had the choice of either stopping it or going professional."

They opted to stick with the haunted house. The couple traveled to a haunted house tradeshow to scope out the competition. "We weren't intimidated at all," Ellisor said.

The whole family got involved in the effort. They rented the fire stand and opened for business at the new location last year.

"I'm not into haunt 24/7," she said. "I like the ballet. I go to church. I'm not Elvira."

Around Halloween, however, Ellisor said she lives and breathes Kingwood Asylum - and for the most part, enjoys the project. "I'm proud of our work," she said.

Long-Term Haunt

Torrans has heard buzz about his urban legend spreading through Kingwood. "I've even overheard people talking about it in the line at the supermarket," he said.

He has also started a community outreach plan - a food drive that coincides with the haunted house. Torrans hopes to eventually turn "Haunt for Hunger" into a nonprofit. In the meantime, visitors who bring three cans of food receive a discount on the price of admission. The food goes to the Society of St. Stephen.

"I try to give back as much as I can," he said.

Kingwood Asylum also inspired Torrans to invent a new product - "Brutal Rust" - a paint with a two-part application, allowing any object to rust.

Eventually, he hopes the haunted house will attract an even larger audience. He dreams of a permanent location, a place where his family and crew can work full-time. "My goal is to be nominated the No. 1 top haunt in the nation," he said.

Torrans has started an umbrella company for all his haunt-related businesses, Haunt Force LLC.

"If you would have asked me five years ago, after I scared some kids in the driveway, if I ever thought I would own a haunted house, I would look at you like you were crazy," he said. "It catapulted itself into a big deal."